Western Bulldogs spearhead Barry Hall has landed a knockout punch to Adelaide's season, booting five goals in a 49-point AFL victory on Friday night to leave the winless Crows in crisis.
Hall grabbed another big bag of goals in the Bulldogs' 18.13 (121) to 10.12 (72) win at Etihad Stadium, following hauls of six and five in his previous two matches.
But the 33-year-old produced his best four-quarter performance for the Bulldogs since his defection from Sydney in the off-season to go with it, against an Adelaide side which started well but fell in a heap late.
Midfielders outstanding
Midfielders Daniel Giansiracusa (36 possessions) and Nathan Eagleton with three goals and 22 touches were also outstanding for the Dogs, who posted their third win in five matches.
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But Adelaide, mentioned as a possible top four chance at the start of the season, are now in dire straits going into next weekend's Showdown against arch-rivals Port Adelaide.
The Crows started with intent and led by a point at quarter-time, before the Bulldogs built an 18-point halftime lead inspired by Hall and Giansiracusa, who had 22 touches in the half.
The Bulldogs lifted their pressure from midway through the first quarter, and kept powering inside 50 in the second term to boot the first five goals - Hall booting two.
Faced with a 31-point deficit midway through the quarter, the Crows fired back with three successive goals.
Superb effort from Dangerfield
They included a superb individual effort from Patrick Dangerfield in which he beat one attempted tackle and shimmied around a defender before booting truly on the run.
But Hall added his third for the term to extend the Dogs' lead to 18 points by halftime.
Hall added two more goals in the third term as the Dogs floored the accelerator with Eagleton prominent.
They held a 44-point lead at the final change before they were able to slide into cruise control in the fourth.
Kurt Tippett finished with three goals for Adelaide.
The free-flowing match also featured several outstanding marks - Adelaide trio Jason Porplyzia, Richard Douglas and Brett Burton and the Bulldogs' Jason Akermanis all taking huge grabs.
